Window shade



Jan. 20, 1931. .c, CARVER 1,789,724

WINDOW SHADE Filed Nov. 8. 1929 INVENTCR aude D. Carver I Cl QQ W ATTORNEYS Patented Jan. 20, 1931 CLAUDE n. .cAR'v' or rem wasnmewo nnwYomi wmnow SHADE Application filed novemiser s, 1929; swam. 40 ,5.

This invention relates to window shades, and more particularly to spring operated window shades.

The col iventional window shade has under- 5 gone but little change in very many years.

It is objectionable to the user because of the monotonous similarity of shades everywhere, and because oithe rather and drab appearance presented hysuch shades when in use. It is objectionable to the manufacturer hecanse inasmuch as there isrno opportunity for the user to express individuality and choice. and inasmuch as the shade once installed ordinarily lasts indefinitely; the onlym'arket for shades is occasioned by "the erection of new burldings. There but little replacement market and practically nofcompetition of the type based upon differences in appearance.-

It is true that to overcome the foregoing objections special shades have been designed and marketed, but these ordinarily are rather complex in construction and operation, quite expensive, and not adapted for installation on 5 the same mountings or simple mountings simrimw those now commonly employed on window framesfor supportlng ivindo v shades.

The primary obgect of "my 'lnventlon is to overcome the various foregoin objections to the conventional Window sha e and to provide ashade of novel appearance which may nevertheless be manufactured and marketed economically, operated with all of the conv'enienee of an ordinary Window shade, and adapted to hung upon standard Window shade mountings. Mynove'l shade differs from the ordinary fiat shade in being plaited. The shadeincludes a spring operated roller which preferably may be similar to an ordi- 0 nary shade roller and fitted'with a round pin up on the roller and the shade itself islifted I by reason of the successiveplaits of the shade being closed in flat formation by the pull of the tapes. The shade is preferabl iittediv'itli a shade stick at the bottointhereof, and a rod extending across the upper edge thereof, in

order to keep the shade in shape. v A further object of my invention is to Ohviate the necessity of having-a rather heavy r shade sticl; at the bottom edge or the shade. '1 h s is particularly deslrahle inasm'uh as the shade stick preferably keptin flat 'rath'er than in ,e'dgeivise position a that 'the plaits or v the shade may close" down upon the flat shade stick Whenth'e shade isri ise'd. It is desirable not to place considerable hending stress upon "such a shade stick, amiruliher desirable to employ a relatively light shade stick iiicapable of taking the pull of the-operating c0rd.

It is also of advantage not to place anysud-wi den pull upon the various tapes of the Shade.

Te fulfill these objects and overcome thesedisadvantages is a' further object ofthe ent lnvention which 1S, accomplished, geneally speaking, by employing atapeiforthe opera-ting cord of the shade, wvliiehxta'p,

\vound directly upon the shade roller and passes. freely through the shade andshm e stick. In this manner tension apar the op 'eratin cord or tape is applied directly to the shade roller andcauses it to release thereinaining tapes, thereby permitting the shade to be lowered by gravity. i

It has already been mentioned that an lll'l."

portant object of the present invention is to "provide a shade of att. "ilie plaits of the shade. nch never unfold entirely 'flat, present a I color -'contrast due to tl1e,'(.liiierence negating uponthe upper and lower faces of each of the pla'its eat of the Sl12i.'Cl' 6, tl1e16by presenting an appearance which isiar inore attractive than the an drab appearance of the ordinary sheen. Theta-pes extendingthroughthe plaits ofithe shade near the center niereoain the opinion I ti v'e' appearance."

oi some peo1 1e. c1ec-r ec from the appearance of the shade, Whereas-it is" generally conceded that the tapes extending near the side marg in's "of "the shade enhance the appearance of the shade. Accordingly; it is i a further 01);

-- of the shade below the shade stick fora considerable distance to act as an operating cord.

This tape being at one side of the window is,

notdopen to the objection of a central shade cor A further object of my invention is to apply to such a shade the movement previously mentioned, whereby the operating tape pulls directly onthe shade roller rather than on the shade, and a still further object ofmy invention is toinake the shade adjustable so that it may be kept in proper shape in spite of any; relative change inthe lengths of the tapes due to stretching thereof, or a change in the attachment of the tapes to the roller.

' passes freely through the shade stick of the For this purpose one of the marginal tapes shade, but the shade stick is prevented from falling by a spring clip which is fixed on the tapejust below the shade stick, and the position of which may be adjusted on the tape.

To. the accomplishment of the foregoing ,and such other objects as will hereinafter appear, my invention consists in the elements Y and their relation one tothe other as herein after are more particularly described in the speclfication and sought to be defined in the claims. The specificationis accompanied by drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is an illustration of a shade embodying my invention Fig.2 is a detail of the roller thereof; Fig. 3 is a detail of the operating tape thereof;

Fig. l is a tion; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view of another fragmentary View of a modificamodification.

R-ef rring to the drawing, the shade comprises generally a spring operated shade roller12, a plaited shade 14. and a plurality of tapes 16 and '18 extending from the bottom of the shade through slits 20 in the successive plaits of the shade and wound upon the roller 12. 'The'roller 12 is preferably similar to aconventional shade roller and fitted with a round pin 22 at one end thereof.

and a rectangular pin 24 at the other end thereof, to adapt the shade for hanging upon standard. window frame mountings such as the mounting 26 in. Fig. 2. r

The roller 12 may be fitted with flanges 28 made of relatively light sheet metal and fixed any other cause.

to the roller 12, but the use ofthese flanges is a refinement which is optional, for I have found that even with a rather narrow tape, say onehalf inch in width, the shade may be successfully operatedwithout flanges. It is, of course, preferably to employ a wider tape and fianges in order to make absolutely certain that. the tapes will be lengthened or shortened equal amounts by rotation of the shade roller.

The bottom edge of th'e'shade is preferably fitted with a shade stick 80 which is positioned flatwise rather than edgewise, so that the plaits of the shade may nest against the shade stick when the shade is raised, as is indicated in Fig- 3. The upper edge of the shade is provided with a rod 32 which is suspended in any suitable manner as by the metal loops 3 1 a slight distance below th'eshade roller 12. Itis obvious from an inspection of Fig. 2 that in place of the mounting 26a special mountingmay be used having a de-' pending portion adapted for the support of rod 32. The arrangement here disclosed is chosen by way of illustration in order to ex-v plain how the present shade may be arranged to replace the prior shades by simply hanging the new shade on the old mountings.

Tape 16 is attached to shade stick 30 at its lower end. Tape 18 is extended below 1 shade stick 30 to form an operating cord or tape 36. This is preferably arranged to pass freely through a slot 38 in shade stick 30 so that tension upon tape 36 is transmitted directly to the shade roller 12. VA clip'40 is fixed to the tape 36 -just belowthe shade stick 30 to prevent the latter from dropping below the level of the lower end oftape 1G.

The clip 40 is preferably made a spring clip 7 V as is bestshown. inFig. 3, or otherwise arranged so that its position along the tape 36 may be adjusted to make shade stick13O horizontal. This adjustment maybe usedtocouuteract anyfunevenness which may be caused by an unequal stretch of the tapes, or from The operating mechanism 42 of the clip 40 is preferably disposed at the rear or window side of the clip, while the front face maybe suitablyembossed as at 44 for decorative value and to permit of the manufacturer giving the shade suitable trademarking, a thing which cannot conveniently V bedone anywhere upon the usual shade.

In F 1 a fragment of a shade is shown r 7 in which threetapes, 52, 54, and 56, are em.-

ployed, of which t 1e. tape is extended 'be- I low the shade as at 58 to form an operating cord for the shade. The arrangement shown in Fig. 1 is preferred tothat shownin Fig. 1 because it eliminates'the center tapeirunning through the body of the shade and the operating cord hanging in the center of the window, both of which may bejthought by some to be unsightly. It may further be pointed-out. that by fastening'the tape 54 700 n the shade stick '60 as at 62, the tape 58 will act merely like an ordinary shade cord, whereas by eliminating the fastening means 62 and permitting the tape 58 to extend freely through a slot in shade stick 60, the tension though positioned in a flat or horizontal position, must be sufliciently strong to take the pull of the operating cord 68. This construction is quite possible and practical, but is less to be preferred than the arrangement shown in Fig. 1 in which there is no shade cord at the center of the shade and no direct bending stress is placed upon the shade stick. I a g The construction and operation of shades embodying features of the present invention will, for the most part, be apparent from the foregoing descriptionthereof. It will also be obvious that the resulting shade possesses a novel and attractiveappearance entirely dissimilar to that of the ordinar and yet the operation of the shade is as simple as that of the ordinary shade, and the shade may be hung upon standard mountings without necessitating special pulley systems and operating cords running around the window frame, and similar devices.

It will be apparent that while I have shown and described my invention in the preferred forms, many changes and modifications may be made in the structures disclosed without departing from the spirit of the invention, defined in the following claims.

I claim a l. A window shade comprising a spring operated roller, a plaited shade, a plurality of tapes extending from the bottom of the shade through slit-sin the successive plaits of the shade and wound upon said roller, and means supporting the upper edge of the shade near the roller. r i

2. A window shad-e comprising a spring operated shade roller fitted with a round pin at one end and a rectangular pin at the other end adapted for hanging the shade upon standard window-frame mountin s a lait-f ed shade, a pluralityof tapes extending from the bottom of the shade through slits in the successive plaits of the shade and wound upon said shade roller, and means supporting the upper edge of the shade near the shade roller. 7

3. A windowshade comprising a spring operated shade roller fitted with a. round pin at one end and a rectangular pin at the other end adapted for hanging the shade upon standard window frame mountings, a plaited This arrangement shade, a shade stick at the bottom of the shade, a plurality of tapes extending from the shade stick through slits in the successive plaits of the shade and wound upon said shade roller, 7

and means suspending the-upper edge of the shade slightly below the shade roller.;

4. A window shade comprising a spring op"- .erated shade roller fitted with a round spin at one endand a rectangular pin at the other end adapted for hanging the shade upon standard window frame mountings, a plaited sh'ade, a shade stick at the bottom of the shade, a'pl'urali-ty (if-tapes extending from the shade stick through'slits in the successive plaits of the shade and wound upon said shade roller, :1 rod extending across and attached to the upper edge of the shade, and means supporting saidjrod at a point below the'shade roller.

5, 'A window shade (omprising a spring operated roller, a plaited shade, a horizontal shade stick at the bottom of the shade, a plurality of tapes extending from the shade stick upwardly through slits in the successive plaits'of the shade and wound upon the i roller, one of said tapes extending below the shade stick fora considerable distance to act operating cord, a rodextending across and attached to the upper edge of the. shade, and means supporting said rod at a point near the shade roller. i

6. A window shadecomprisingaspring operated roller, a plaited shade, a horizontal shade stick at the bottom of the shade, a plurality of tapesexten ding from the shade stick upwardly throughslits in the successive plaits of the shade and wound upon the shade roller, one of said tapes extending downwardly for a considerable distance be= low said stick to act as an operating cord and passing freely througha slot in the shade stick so that tension on the tap-e is applied directly to'therolle r, and means sup porting the upper edge of said shade near the shade roller. 1

7 window shade comprising a spring operated roller, a 'plaitedQshade, a shade stick at the bottom of the shade, a pair of tapes extending from the shade stick near the ends thereof upwardly through slits in the successive plaits of the shade and wound upon the shade roller, one of said tapes 'extal shade stick at the bottom of the shade,

a pair of tapes extending from the shade stick near the endsthereof upwardly through slits in the successive plaits of the shade and wound upon the shaderoller, one of said tapes extending through a slot in the shade stick for a considerable distance to act as an operating cord, means fixed tothe latter tape just beneath the shade stick to hold the stick in horizontal position, and means supporting the upper edge of the shade roller. v

9. A Window shade comprising a spring said shade near operated roller, a plaited shade, a horizon-.

tal shade stick at the bottom of the shade, a pair of tapes extending from the shade stick near the ends thereof upwardly through slits in the successive plaits of the shade and wound upon the shade roller, one of said tapes extending through a slot in the shade stick ior a considerable distance to act as an operatingcord, an ad ustable clip fixed'to the latter tape just beneath the shade stick to hold the latter in horizontal position, and means supporting shade near the shade roller. I

10. A window shade comprising a spring operated shade roller fitted with a. round pin at one end and a rectangular pin at the other '-end adapted for hanging the shade upon standard window-frame mountings, a plaited shade, a horizontal shade stick at the bottom of the shade, a pair of tapes extending from the shade stick near the ends thereof upwardl v through slits in the successive plaits of the shade and Wound upon the shade roller, one of said tapes extending through a slot in the shade stick for a considerable distance to act as an operating cord, an adjustable clip fixed to the latter tape just beneath the shade stick to hold the latter in horizontal position, a rod extending across the upper edge of the shade, and means supporting said rod at a point below the shade roller. 7 Signed at New York in the county of New York and State of New York this 4th day of November, A. D. 1929. T 7

- CLAUDE D. CARVER.

the upper edgeof said I 

